Danish marine life exploding thanks to warm weather

The waters of the Øresund are teeming with fish thanks to the recent late summer warming trend.

“There has never been such a large amount of anchovies, herring and mackerel as there are now,” Jens P Jeppesen, a marine biologist and the aquarium manager of Øresundsakvariet at the University of Copenhagen, told DR Nyheder. “It is fantastic. It has been a good year all round for marine life.”

Even tuna turning up
Jeppesen said that he has never seen anything like it in his 30 years of working as a marine biologist at the Øresund.

While activity often increases in the late summer, this year’s above-average temperatures have increased the amount of plankton in the area, and this is attracting all kinds of wildlife.

“My favourite is the bluefin tuna that is turning up for the first time in many years,” Jeppesen said.

Not so good on land
However, back on the land, some animals have been suffering in the unseasonable weather, which has heavily disrupted their preparations for the winter.

Hedgehogs, for example, tend to take warm weather as a sign they should stock up on food before their annual hibernation and they have accordingly been over-eating, while birds have been delaying their migration south.

Some animals might end up reproducing twice this year instead of the normal once.